Bon Vivant
Probably the one and only time we ventured to this cool little neighborhood, was several years ago when our ‘adventures’ took us to Boulevard Blue. Since then, we hadn’t given much thought to the area so we’d forgotten what a treasure this was in terms of quaint little (and not so little) eateries! Bon Vivant was one of them!! An old house that up until 2011 housed Vine & Bean, is now a small French-focused bistro that features several vegetarian and vegan options, along with what you’d expect from a French bistro… French-inspired dishes. A word of warning though, to anyone thinking about checking it out – if your appetite tends toward the “hearty”, this may not be the place for you as the portions are small (read VERY small) and unlike you’d find in an Italian restaurant, are not accompanied by a massive salad, basket of bread and a heaping portion of carbs (pasta or potato). If the menu says ‘grilled salmon’, you get just that, a small piece of grilled salmon! This was Mr. Z’s selection and though it was very good; he certainly didn’t have to let his belt out a notch when we left! Additionally, we both felt $19 for a small piece of salmon (with no sides) was just a bit overpriced, even for the finest of restaurants! I chose a chopped salad and the toasted mushroom ravioli appetizer. The salad was (for lack of a better word) boring. I realize that most entrée salads, and even some “side” salads served in many places today are too heavy and filling, that one doesn’t really need the entrée that follows. That was definitely not the case. This was light and tasty, but….boring! The toasted ravioli appetizer was a little on the tough side (I assume it was over-toasted because it was hard to chew). Again, it was tasty, but probably not something I’d order again.
OK, all of that being said, it may sound like we were disappointed with our experience but that is not the case at all. These adventures aren’t just about the food, but more importantly the entire experience. In this case, the experience outweighed what we ate. We dined on the sidewalk patio and were waited on by Michael, who was awesome! He was attentive, friendly and took the time to chat and make small talk. Of course this was made possible because there was only one other table occupied and it was right next to ours. I want to close by saying that while some of this may lean towards the negative; that isn’t my intention at all. We would go back to Bon Vivant; but….we’d go more for the atmosphere than the food (and we’d probably stop for ice cream on the way home)!
Bon Vivant is located at:
12706 Larchmere Blvd.
Shaker Heights, OH
(216) 862-8931